26 research outputs found
Predictability of floods in the Alps: hydrological aspects
No full textT. Cegnar and J. Rakovec (eds.
The distribution of Ambrosia spp. pollen grains through North East of Italy, Slovenia and Carinthia (Austria) in the year 2021
No full textIntroduction The data sharing of Ambrosia spp. pollen particles detection among the Environmental Agencies of North East Italy, Carinthia (Austria) and Slovenia has allowed the development of a geographical map showing where ragweed was mostly concentrated in 2021. Materials and Methods Ambrosia spp. pollen grains were identified during the routine microscope analysis of the samples collected in 2021 from n.24 stations belonging to the monitoring networks of the Environmental Agencies involved in the study. Specific training in the recognition of Ambrosia spp pollen was previously carried out to distinguish it from similar genera. Pollen concentration data collected from each station were reported as annual pollen index, i.e. the sum of daily pollen concentration over the year (fig.1). Kriging model was applied to spatialize the punctual annual data and visualize the areas of greatest presence of the pollen. Results and Discussion The annual pollen indexes of Ambrosia spp. from North East of Italy, Carinthia (Austria) and Slovenia, spatialized with the Kriging method are represented in figure 2. On this map, the sampling stations are also reported and since each station represents the main phytoclimatic areas of each territory, it was possible to validate the result obtained. It is evident a higher concentration of Ambrosia pollen in the eastern-south part of the study are
THERMAL COMFORT TRENDS AND VARIABILITY IN THE CROATIAN AND SLOVENIAN MOUNTAINS
No full textMountain meteorological stations played an extremely important role in weather forecasting in the past because they were the only available data source on meteorological conditions several hundred metres above the sea level. Nowadays they are mainly used to estimate the climatic variations and the climate change trends in the environment that is not under the direct influence of the local anthropogenic factors. Two mountain meteorological observatories were chosen to illustrate climatic and bioclimatic trends and variability, Zavižan in Croatian Dinaric Alps and Kredarica in Slovenian Julian Alps. Both have the same monitoring protocol and similar instruments. Because of their unchanged surrounding since time of establishment the data from both observatories are extremely valuable for studying changes in sensitive mountain
ecosystems in both countries. Data from the period 1955-2004 were used to assess mountain climatic and bioclimatic variability and trends in Croatia and Slovenia. Results point at the significant increase in the thermal bioclimate index (PET) based on the human energy balance models. At both sites the increase is mainly caused by temperature changes
A HIGH RESOLUTION TEMPERATURE CLIMATOLOGY FOR THE GREATER ALPINE REGION (GAR)
No full textThe Greater Alpine Region (the GAR) covering the area between 4-19°E and 43-50°N and an altitude range between 0 and more than 4000 m asl. offers a challenging climate worth to be studied in any detail. However, it is surprising that up to now no comprehensive Alpine Temperature Climatology covering the whole region is existing. To overcome this deficiency as a first step we want to produce monthly temperature maps for this region in spatial resolution as high as possible. The period under investigation will be 1961-1990. In this paper we will describe the first steps of our initiative as well as the further plans
A new instrumental precipitation dataset for the greater alpine region for the period 1800-2002
No full textThe paper describes the development of a dataset of 192 monthly precipitation series covering the greater alpine region (GAR, 4-18°E by 43-49°N). A few of the time series extend back to 1800. A description is provided of the sometimes laborious processes that were involved in this work: from locating the original sources of the data to homogenizing the records and eliminating as many of the outliers as possible. Locating the records required exhaustive searches of archives currently held in yearbooks and other sources of the states, countries and smaller regional authorities that existed at various times during the last 200 years. Homogeneity of each record was assessed by comparison with neighbouring series, although this becomes difficult when the density of stations reduces in the earliest years. An additional 47 series were used, but the density of the sites in Austria and Switzerland was reduced to maintain an even coverage in space across the whole of the GAR. We are confident of the series back to 1840, but the quality of data before this date must be considered poorer. Of all of the issues involved in homogenizing these data, perhaps the most serious problem is associated with the differences in the height above ground of the precipitation gauges, in particular the general lowering of gauge heights in the late 19th century for all countries, with the exception of Italy. The standard gauge height in the early-to-mid 19th century was 15-30 m above the ground, with gauges being generally sited on rooftops. Adjustments to some series of the order of 30-50% are necessary for compatibility with the near-ground location of gauges during much of the 20th century. Adjustments are sometimes larger in the winter, when catching snowfall presents serious problems. Data from mountain-top observatories have not been included in this compilation (because of the problem of measuring snowfall), so the highest gauge sites are at elevations of 1600-1900 m in high alpine valley locations. Two subsequent papers will analyse the dataset. The first will compare the series with other large-scale precipitation datasets for this region, and the second will describe the major modes of temporal variability of precipitation totals in different seasons and determine coherent regions of spatial variability
HISTALP - historical instrumental climatological surface time series for the Greater Alpine Region
No full textThis paper describes the HISTALP database, consisting of monthly homogenised records of temperature, pressure, precipitation, sunshine and cloudiness for the 'Greater Alpine Region' (GAR, 4-19 degrees E, 43-49 degrees N, 0-3500m asl). The longest temperature and air pressure series extend back to 1760, precipitation to 1800, cloudiness to the 1840s and sunshine to the 1880s. A systematic QC procedure has been applied to the series and a high number of inhomogeneities (more than 2500) and outliers (more than 5000) have been detected and removed. The 557 HISTALP series are kept in different data modes: original and homogenised, gap-filled and outlier corrected station mode series, grid-1 series (anomaly fields at 1 degrees *1 degrees , lat * long) and Coarse Resolution Subregional (CRS) mean series according to an EOF-based regionalisation. The leading climate variability features within the GAR are discussed through selected examples and a concluding linear trend analysis for 100, 50 and 25-year subperiods for the four horizontal and two altitudinal CRSs. Among the key findings of the trend analysis is the parallel centennial decrease/increase of both temperature and air pressure in the 19th/20th century. The 20th century increase (+1.2 degrees C/+1.1 hPa for annual GAR-means) evolved stepwise with a first peak near 1950 and the second increase (1.3 degrees C/0.6hPa per 25 years) starting in the 1970s. Centennial and decadal scale temperature trends were identical for all subregions. Air pressure, sunshine and cloudiness show significant differences between low versus high elevations. A long-term increase of the high-elevation series relative to the low-elevation series is given for sunshine and air pressure. Of special interest is the exceptional high correlation near 0.9 between the series on mean temperature and air pressure difference (high-minus low-elevation). This, further developed via some atmospheric statics and thermodynamics, allows the creation of 'barometric temperature series' without use of the measures of temperature. They support the measured temperature trends in the region. Precipitation shows the most significant regional and seasonal differences with, e.g., remarkable opposite 20th century evolution for NW (9% increase) versus SE (9% decrease). Other long- and short-term features are discussed and indicate the promising potential of the new database for further analyses and applications
Med fronto in notranjim konfliktom: čustva v zapiskih vojaških kaplanov
No full textThis article presents an attempt to analyse the personal notes of Slovenian military chaplains from the First World War in the context of the “emotional front line”. Based on fragments from memoirs, letters and rare diary entries by Slovenian military chaplains (e.g. Janez Cegnar, Leopold Turšič, Januš Golec), it was possible to place them in a comparative framework alongside chaplains of other belligerent armed forces and the findings of contemporary researchers who are dedicated to this topic. From this material, it can be deduced that the Slovenian sources are only part of a broader pattern in which military chaplains became observers, comforters and chroniclers of painful and indescribable traumatic events on the front lines of the First World War – events that also left a deep mark on them.
Prispevek predstavlja poskus analize osebnih zapisov slovenskih vojaških duhovnikov iz prve svetovne vojne v kontekstu t. i. ‚čustvene fronte‘. Na podlagi fragmentov iz spominskih zapisov, pisem in redkih dnevniških notic slovenskih duhovnikov (npr. Janeza Cegnarja, Leopolda Turšiča, Januša Golca) je bilo te mogoče vpeti v primerjalni okvir predstavnikov duhovne oskrbe oboroženih sil drugih vojskujočih se držav in ugotovitve sodobnih raziskovalcev, ki se posvečajo tej tematiki. Iz pregledanega je mogoče razbrati, da so slovenski vpisi le del širšega vzorca, v katerem so vojni kurati postali opazovalci, tolažniki in kronisti bolečih in neopisljivih travmatičnih dogodkov na frontnih črtah prve svetovne vojne – dogodkov, ki so še kako zaznamovali tudi njih same
Prospective assessment of quality of life female cancer patients
No full textObjective. The aims of this study were to compare the quality of life (QOL) of women with different cancer sites; to identify predictors of QOL; and to examine the agreement between patient self-reported QOL and QOL ratings provided by clinicians and significant others. Methods. A prospective study was conducted including 248 patients with gynecologic and breast cancer. QOL data were collected at six time points before, during, and after treatment, using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the Spitzer QL index (QL-I). Results. Baseline assessments showed comparable QOL scores among patients with different gynecologic malignancies and breast cancer. During active treatment breast cancer patients had significantly higher mean scores in physical functioning compared to women with gynecologic cancers and higher scores in role functioning compared to patients with cervical cancer. After completion of treatment there were no statistically significant differences in QOL among the groups. For all women, global QOL and emotional functioning were mostly affected during and after treatment. Regression analysis showed that patients' global QOL was significantly predicted by severity of surgery (t ؍ 3.903, P < 0.01) and pretreatment performance status (t ؍ 3.116, P ؍ <0.01). Comorbidity, family support, number of treatments, age, and stage of disease were not predictive. The comparison of patient self-rated QOL and observer-rated QOL showed that the QL-I mean scores of health providers and relatives were generally in close agreement with those of patients. Intraclass correlations were moderate to high during active treatment and excellent after completion of treatment. Conclusion. In female cancer patients, global QOL and emotional functioning are mostly affected during the course of disease, independent of their diagnosis. Significant others and health professionals are able to provide useful information on QOL of patients recovering from cancer. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA
Daily dataset of 20th century surface air temperature and precipitation series for the European Climate Assessment
No full textWe present a dataset of daily resolution climatic time series that has been compiled for the European Climate Assessment (ECA). As of December 2001, this ECA dataset comprises 199 series of minimum, maximum and/or daily mean temperature and 195 series of daily precipitation amount observed at meteorological stations in Europe and the Middle East. Almost all series cover the standard normal period 1961-90, and about 50% extends back to at least 1925. Part of the dataset (90%) is made available for climate research on CDROM and through the Internet (at http://www.knmi.nl/samenw/eca). A comparison of the ECA dataset with existing gridded datasets, having monthly resolution, shows that correlation coefficients between ECA stations and nearest land grid boxes between 1946 and 1999 are higher than 0.8 for 93% of the temperature series and for 51% of the precipitation series. The overall trends in the ECA dataset are of comparable magnitude to those in the gridded datasets. The potential of the ECA dataset for climate studies is demonstrated in two examples. In the first example, it is shown that the winter (October-March) warming in Europe in the 1976-99 period is accompanied by a positive trend in the number of warm-spell days at most stations, but not by a negative trend in the number of cold-spell days. Instead, the number of cold-spell days increases over Europe
